Noa Bercovitch, Pascale "The Dolphin’s Boy"

Noa Bercovitch, Pascale "The Dolphin’s Boy: A Story of Courage and Friendship" (French: Oline, le dauphin du miracle) - 2000

Bercovitch was an athlete who had a terrible accident on a train and subsequently had to have her legs amputated. This didn't interfere with her plan to go to Israel, she still went and became not just a successful journalist and filmmaker but also participated in the Paralympics.

In her partly autobiographical book, she tells us about the Bedouin boy Abdullah who fell out of a tree at the age of five and was deaf ever since. He grew up keeping to himself and loved to spend his time swimming. At one of his excursions, he met a dolphin who wouldn't leave his side any more. The author made a film about this extraordinary friendship between the boy and the dolphin and later wrote this book about them. A wonderful story.

From the back cover:

"The incredible story of how a dolphin radically transformed the life of a young deaf man. 'A fairy tale for the ecological age.' Daily Mail 

Abid'allah, a Bedouin boy, was left completely deaf after falling out of a tree at the age of five. Growing up, he was a loner, who spent much of his time swimming in the crystal waters of the Red Sea. One day a dolphin joined him - and from then on never left his side. This was remarkable, for dolphins usually prefer to live in groups, communicating in their own sound language. But this one seemed never to make a noise, and was also evidently a loner.... The first word Abid'allah was to speak was 'olin' - the word 'dolphin' being the same in his own dialect as it is in English - and this became the name of his dolphin friend, who had given him confidence, love and respect which encouraged him to speak again. When Olin is in danger, Abid'allah is swift to protect her, if other dolphins are caught in a fishing net, Olin seeks Abid'allah help. Their story has attracted scientists, film crews and journalists from around the world, but this is the first book to explore this remarkable friendship."